Planning and Notes

Full Film Idea;

Our original film idea was very difficult to create in our heads as we started off unsure on how to form the idea we had into a trailer. Our full film idea focuses on one central character, who typically has a normal everyday life. She is in her teens and one afternoon invites her friends over. During this afternoon, they venture into the loft as her parents are out, and whilst searching the loft, they hear a strange noise from underneath them. They lift up part of the loft floor which then reveals a Ouija board. The friends, although reluctant at first, decide to do the Ouija board with just the three of them, in the dark, in the loft, with a shot glass and candles. During this experience, nothing ‘out of the ordinary’ happens except a few moves of the shot glass, which they all blame each other for – mainly because they refuse to accept the fact they have unknowingly invited another presence into their lives. Sam, the main protagonist is left alone that same evening, left thinking something bad will happen to her. She is unable to contact her friends and has a lack of sleep. However, the next morning arrives with everything seeming okay. She travels to her bathroom to discover odd marks on her face. She is unable to rid her face of these marks and over the next few days – a dark figure appears near her, but she never sees him. Sam starts to become possessed, killing her friends and joining the dark figure. Throughout the film, we are constantly flashed back to the night Sam supposedly spent alone and discover she was meeting with the dark figure in the woods, she just didn’t know it yet. The film continues on with this structure and ends with a new group of friends years later, creating tension for the audience as they know their inevitable fate.

Recce Report;

Locations include – Sam’s house, street, woods and an attic. We decided to go with the normal horror conventions as we didn’t want to challenge them in anyway and so to create an uncomfortable, horror atmosphere for our audience. Family homes are good for horror films/trailers as they connote safety and a sense of protection, but these are then conflicted when evil things begin to take over. Attic and woods in the darkness also portray and connote evil things, death and an uneasy environment – which is great for spooking the horror film fans out there.

Props and Costume Lists;

Car, Ouija board, candles, make-up, face paint, cooking equipment and a knife

Normal everyday costumes for Sam and her friends at the beginning, dark clothing for Sam when she becomes possessed, and a dark black jacket for the ‘dark figure’

Filming Schedule;
We decided to film in college time in our lessons and our frees as well as taking a whole two/three days in our Christmas holiday to film our shots for our trailer. Also, when we discovered we needed better or more shots, I then took time outside of college to complete this myself.